Chapter 59

58, a poor relative, no one wants to mess with. __1

Translator 549690339

Li Lingling was the daughter of Li Jinwen’s uncle, also his first cousin. Later, she married a small wholesaler at a wholesale market in Rakshasa City. Her business was quite successful, grossing a net profit of about two to three million yuan each year.

She had money, ability, and connections.

However, Lin Mo knew all too well that none of the relatives on his wife’s side had much regard for him. The atmosphere during annual gatherings was hardly warm, and many were opportunistic.

Of course, it was also because they were poor. Who would show their kindest face to poor relatives?

Asking her for help would probably be met with nothing but cold words.

Lin Mo didn’t hold it against them.

If his own daughter were to marry a man without a house or car, and without a good job, he probably would feel a mix of pity and anger at the man’s lack of ambition.

There was no escaping the fact that in today’s society, being poor was a sin. Lin Mo always felt that instead of obsessing over how others treated him, it was better to earn more money to give his wife and children a better life.

That was what truly mattered.

As for what others said or thought about him, people’s mouths were their own, and he couldn’t control them.

He shook his head and said, “Let’s forget about it. They look down on us anyway, and we’ve never really been in touch. There’s no need to go begging for help.”

“It’S just stocking up on ginger shoots. I can just visit a few more wholesale markets to get a rough idea of the price!”

Li Jinwen knew what her husband was thinking and didn’t insist any further. In fact, she too was reluctant to ask relatives for help. Over the years, no matter how tough times were, she had silently persevered: “Alright, then let’s not look for her. 1 can help you visit the wholesale markets these next few days. Don’t forget that it was me who helped you with your graduation thesis.

“I know a thing or two about the fluctuations in agricultural product prices!” Lin Mo replied, “Running around the market is pretty tiring; you don’t need to come along. Later, we’ll take a look at the shop front, then head over to the sports lottery center to take care of the paperwork. There’s also a lot to do, like refurbishing the store. Just handle that part and it’ll be fine; I won’t have the time in the next few days.”

Li Jinwen nodded, “Okay, I’ll do as you say,

Because they started out too early, when they arrived at the school, it was only 6:25 a.m., nearly an hour before the campus opened.

Other than the vendors selling breakfast, there were hardly any students to be seen.

In the early morning, everyone preferred to let their children sleep a bit longer.

“Oh… surprisingly no traffic jams, sorry, I wouldn’t have had you get up so early if I’d known!”

“It’s fine; consider it an experiment. From now on, we can just leave home at 6:40 a.m. There’s no need to get up so early. It’s also good that Xiaoxiao fell asleep in the car; she should be alright and not sluggish today.”

“What should we do now?”

-What else can we do? Sit in the car and sleep for a while longer, let Xiaoxiao

get some more rest.”

None of the three had slept well, and now, sitting down, sleepiness quickly overtook them.

After chatting idly for a while, they all began to yawn uncontrollably.

In between, Lin Mo and his wife talked about opening a lottery shop and some of his business plans.

After listening to Lin Mo’s analysis, Li Jinwen had even more confidence in him.

Finally, at 7:20 a.m., Lin Mo woke up his daughter, who had fallen asleep, and watched her walk into the school gates.

“Shall 1 drive? You get some more rest?”

Li Jinwen nodded.

Lin Mo took the driver’s seat, adjusted the chair, and headed toward the location agreed upon with the real estate agent yesterday.

When they arrived, the agent, dressed in a suit, stood by an electric bike, shivering and moving about in the cold wind.

The temperature today wasn’t particularly low, but the strong early morning wind was bitterly cold.

Lin Mo felt no flood of sympathy for him.

If it hadn’t been for his system awakening, his life would have been much harder than these real estate agents’.

It goes to show, often a person’s rise to success is a matter of luck! “Hello, I’m the person who called you yesterday, my last name is Lin.”

“Hello, hello, Mr. Lin, I’m Wang Zhong from Lianjia Agency. You can just call me Wang. Here is some information on storefronts suitable for setting up a lottery store. Please have a look.”

Lin Mo took the thick stack of materials and after checking it out, he said, “Let’s go on-site to check them out, and if any can pass the sports lottery’s examination, I can rent the place today.”

“Sure, sure!” Wang Zhong hopped on his electric bike, still wearing his humble smile, ’Til lead the way; you just follow behind me.”

Although Lin Mo wanted to invite him to ride along, the back seat was just too small.

Wang Zhong’s build would have made it a very cramped fit.

Helplessly,

he could only drive his Wuling Mini, following behind Wang Zhong, visiting one storefront after the other, stopping and going until it was almost noon.

After looking at the last storefront, Wang Zhong’s face had already been windburned to a bright red.

He sniffled and said, “Mr. Lin, these are all the shops below 20 square meters in the vicinity. Have you found any to your satisfaction?”

Honestly,

the locations of these storefronts were all quite acceptable, some even came with renovations, and they didn’t charge any transfer fee.

The few that did charge a transfer fee were because they had access to natural gas, which meant they could be used for breakfast or deli shops.

The range of rents was wide.

The cheapest was 2,500 yuan a month, and the most expensive was 11,000 yuan a month.

The payment method was the same for all: pay for 12 months, with a 6-month deposit.

Lin Mo asked, “What do you think, wife? Do you like any of these places?

“I think the one by the entrance to the new village in North City District is pretty good. The rent is a little over 2,100, and it has a pretty large flow of people!”

“Then there’s also the one at the Nanqiao Stall, which is close to our daughter’s school, would make it convenient to pick her up and drop her off.

After pondering for a moment, she added, “The one in Lingang Lancheng Bay is also okay. Right next to it is the dormitory for the Tesla Factory. I’ve heard that the factory alone has more than 20,000 people, so there must be quite a few people buying lottery tickets, right?”

The three locations Li Jinwen picked out were also among the ones Lin Mo found acceptable.

Lingang Lancheng Bay wasn’t within his considerations since it was too far, making it inconvenient to take Lin Xiaoxiao to and from school.

Opening a lottery store wasn’t solely about making money; he wanted to gain more intelligence. There was no need to exhaust himself, running back and forth every day.

As long as he could occasionally get the score of a soccer match or the numbers for the Double Color Ball, he could easily strike it rich.

“All right then.”

Lin Mo looked at the agent and said, “For now, I’m considering the shops at the entrance to the new village in North City District and the one at Nanqiao Stall. Give me the information for these shops; I’ll apply to the sports lottery center this afternoon. Whichever address gets approved, that’s the one I’ll rent.” “Sure, sure, no problem.” Wang quickly retrieved the information for these two shops and handed it over.

After taking the information, Lin Mo glanced at his watch and said, “That’ll be all the trouble for now. I’ll let you know once I’ve decided this afternoon. Help me negotiate with the landlord. If the price is right, 1 can make the payment today.”

Agents weren’t all-consuming beasts; Lin Mo had sold houses in the past and knew they were the ones who wanted most to make the deal happen.

Agents were more familiar with the bottom price, so having him negotiate was the right choice.

After all, the final decision to rent or not lay with him.

“Sure, sure, no problem. 1 won’t bother you any longer then. 1 wish you all the best, and we’ll see each other again this afternoon or evening.” Wang Zhong said goodbye to them both with a smile and rode his electric bike out of sight around the corner.

Li Jinwen exclaimed, “Husband, have you noticed that this agent reminds me a lot of you when you were younger?”

Lin Mo teased, “My face was never this red, and when I was young, I was much handsomer than him!”

■■Get over yourself, have you forgotten how nervous you were on your first day as an agent?”

“Hey, hey, hey, a brave man doesn’t talk about his past courage!

“Haha, okay, I’ll stop teasing you. It’s almost noon anyway.. What do you want for lunch? After eating, let’s head to the bank, and 1’11 transfer all the money from my card to you!”